This invention relates to hand trucks and particularly to hand trucks with a collapsible supporting surface for handling bulky freight or loads.
Conventional hand trucks generally comprise a U-shaped or oval-shaped main frame with a handle at one end and an axle with wheels and a toe plate generally perpendicular to the frame at the other end. Hand trucks with collapsible platforms attached thereto are known for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 454,461; 2,430,107; and 2,784,004. The primary drawback of such hand trucks are that the structure adds considerable weight to the hand truck and makes it difficult to hoist it manually in and out of trucks or otherwise manipulate it.
Another utility cart is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,346. This patent discloses a utility cart which has an upwardly extending frame, a pair of wheels journaled to the lower end of the frame, and a bed pivoted adjacent one of its ends on the frame at the lower end of the frame for swinging about an axis extending from one side of the frame to the other. The cart converts into a generally two-sided platform as seen in FIG. 5 for handling larger items. However, it is not adapted for handling bulky items such as baked bread or the like wherein the weight of the item is not excessive, but the bulk of it is.
Another hand truck with a collapsible supporting surface which is adaptable for converting the hand truck into a worktable is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,286. The primary feature of this hand truck is that it provides an extension for the toe plate when it functions as a hand truck which then becomes a ledge to support a table top when it functions as a table. There is nothing in this patent that permits it to handle bulky freight.